How to do a barrel roll IRL
Thanks to an engineer at Google you can type “do a barrel roll” into search, and it will roll your browser view around and around. I didn’t even know this was a meme until today.
My dad’s a pilot and a different sort of engineer, so I sent him an email about the Google trick, and this is what he wrote back:
The barrel roll was my favorite aerobatic maneuver when I was a student flying T-28s. It is particularly challenging in a propeller airplane because you have to coordinate all the controls and change power as you go through it. It goes something like this: Start straight and level at 8000 ft. 220 knots. Start a rolling turn to the right adding a little power, a little forward stick to keep the nose on track, a little rudder to keep the ball in the center, at 45 degrees of turn you should be at 45 degrees angle of bank, continuing, at 90 degrees of turn your should be at 90 degrees angle of bank, at 135 degrees of turn you should be at 135 degrees angle of roll etc until you are back on your original course and airspeed.
Love,
Dad
